Kirk wrote:Does anyone else here have the pronunciation [θeŋ] for "thing?" I usually do (tho it's interchangeable with [θiŋ] for me) and it seems relatively common here. Since I have front-vowel raising before monomorphemic /ŋ/, historical /θɪŋ/ is my [θiŋ] and I presume my [θeŋ] is rooted in historical /θæŋ/ (as historical /hæŋ/ is my [heŋ]), which is found in some American dialects of English.

What's interesting is that in related forms "something" and "nothing" I only have [-iŋ], never *[-eŋ]. This would also seem to give evidence to the analysis of my [θeŋ] as rooted in a separate lexical item from historical /θɪŋ/, as /ɪŋ/>/eŋ/ does not occur elsewhere in my dialect.